Nicknames
by Spectre.of.Apples
Summary: Yamato's non-reaction to Naruto calling Aoba 'Aoba-chan' started the first time he heard the boy say it, when he was five. "Ne, ne, Aoba-chan, we're going to get ice cream, right?"


**Hiya! Ugh, it's been FOREVER, I know! Nnot my fault, as Acer is really faulty and my wifi card fried in a day on my laptop. ;n;**

**However, I'm here on this other laptop, 'doing my Geography revision'. Heh heh.**

**Ok, this idea came to me when watching a scene from a (now OLD) episode. I was watching it, reading the subtitles and it sounded like Naruto said 'Aoba-chan'. Yep. That's it.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**1, 128 words**

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Yamato sighed as he rolled a tankard around with his finger, following the gentle arcing motion with his eyes.

He heard a shout from outside and peeked out the door, seeing Naruto standing atop the railing, gripping the rope and grinning. He saw Aoba behind Naruto, trying to get him down.

"Naruto-kun! Seriously! You're sixteen now, act your age!" Aoba scolded.

Naruto pouted. "Sorry Aoba-chan." He muttered. Yamato's eyebrow twitched but he ducked his head back inside before Aoba had a chance to rope him into looking after Naruto; 'as he was supposed to do'.

But honestly. 'Aoba-chan'? That was a weird nick-name for a grown man to have. But then again, Naruto _was_ only young when Hiruzen introduced them, telling Naruto that Aoba would be walking around with him and would be willing to buy him _whatever_ he wanted, including ramen. Naruto was, of course, ecstatic that somebody would buy him ramen for _the whole flipping day_, but it wasn't much of a strain on one's brain to say Aoba didn't feel the same. His wallet certainly helped in that decision, too.

Yamato sighed again and tipped his chair back. It was all a matter of perspective, he supposed. Naruto hardly _ever_, if at all, called Aoba with the suffix in the presence of other people and only once or twice, with Sakura and himself present. It was only truly in _private_ that Naruto dropped all pretences and referred to the Special Jōnin as 'Aoba-chan'. The few times Yamato had actually heard the nick-name he had a hard time not bursting out in laughter, as did Kakashi when he found out. Not that they heard it often, but there was always a round of teasing when they did.

Yamato smirked as he remembered the first time the affectionate nick-name had made itself known.

It all started with a chibi Naruto…

~Flashubacku no Justu~

"Aoba-chan! Aoba-chan!" Squealed a blond child, squirming in the arms of the Third Hokage, eager to greet his new friend, affectionately dubbed as 'Aoba-chan' by the small child.

The Hokage chuckled, putting the child down and watched him dart over to the twenty-four-year-old, who just heaved a sigh and allowed the child to treat him like a tree, climbing all over him and giggling.

"I'm sorry to put him on you like this." Sarutobi was saying, hiding a grin beneath his large Hokage hat. _It's useful for more than blocking the sun, it seems._ He mused to himself, watching as Aoba expertly righted the upside-down child on his back, letting small, tan arms slide around his neck, bright blue eyes peering at him from over his shoulder.

"Ne, ne, Aoba-chan!" The child murmured. "We're going to get ice-cream, right?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun." Aoba replied, pushing his glasses up on his nose, blinking at the blond child. "But you have to behave yourself until Hokage-sama dismisses us." He chided lightly, amusement curling in his gut and forcing a small smirk as the child squeaked, turned to the Hokage and squeaked again, lowering his head until his eyes just peered over Aoba's shoulder.

"Sorry, jii-chan!" He cried. Aoba glanced down at him and saw his pout; obviously the hyper-active child wanted to be out, getting _ice-cream_ – _vile, sticky, sweet, cold_ – and spending time with 'his' _Aoba-chan_.

The Hokage smiled at the boy. "No worries, Naruto. Just remember to be good for Aoba-san, okay?"

"Hai!" The small child said excitedly, bouncing on Aoba's back. "We'll go to the lake again! Can we go to the lake again?" His eyes misted over slightly, showing Aoba he was remembering last time he was there – and the small Uchiha and his older brother – the brothers throwing a frisbee back and forth, the youngest eyeing Naruto when he ran up to them with suspicion, as if people wanting to be his friend – blond, hyper-active people – was strange – _unnatural, weird, __**unwelcome**_ – until Itachi seemed to realise who the blond boy was and told his brother – _quite firmly_ – that Naruto didn't really have any friends and they should set a good example, smiling when Naruto blushed, looked down at his feet and kicked a small pebble with a mumbled "_I just wanna play too_," leaving his pouting lips.

Aoba sighed and pat Naruto's head. "Of course." He said. He, of course, didn't have the heart to tell the poor boy that his new friends had split apart, one becoming a reclusive loner and the other…a homicidal clan-killing criminal. But maybe the little Uchiha needed a friend right now. He hoped.

And so, when Sarutobi dismissed them, they headed to the ice-cream store, Naruto picking out chocolate excitedly, Aoba, with much less enthusiasm, choosing mango sorbet. He was aware of the ANBU tailing them, as was common procedure if Naruto and his 'caretaker' were ambushed by other shinobi or villagers.

Naruto ran slightly ahead, cheerfully licking his ice cream as Yamato stepped up beside Aoba. "Rough day?" Yamato asked, smirking.

"Not so far." Grunted Aoba. "About to get worse, though." He added when they came up to the lake, Naruto tossing his half-finished cone in the trash, hesitating. Aoba lifted an eyebrow – maybe the brat had heard about what Itachi had done and what Sasuke was like now, but, with a scream of 'hey, you bastard' from Naruto, he winced and decided the brat probably wouldn't care either way – as long as he got to play with Sasuke, who had looked around, shocked, before pausing and nodding back slowly to Naruto, who skidded to a stop beside him and sat down – _sat down quietly_ – next to him, running his fingers through the water. Neither boy spoke for a while, but eventually Naruto broke the silence with muttered words, which Sasuke replied to just as quietly.

Aoba sighed and turned to head into the park, Yamato trailing behind him. They sat and watched as the children ran around and laughed, before Yamato grinned at him. Aoba knew what was coming. "So, _Aoba-chan_, how's your day been?" Aoba grimaced. Yep, there it was.

"Just fine, _Yama-chan_." He replied through gritted teeth. Yamato snickered.

~Flashubacku no Jutsu completo~

Yamato chuckled. It wasn't every day you heard two grown men referring to each other with 'pet names'. And boy, had they gotten some strange looks. But that was also the first day he had seen Naruto and Sasuke's friendship, and knew the blond boy's reasoning for wanting the Uchiha back, even if he disapproved. He sighed and leaned back, hearing more shouting and laughter from outside.

"Better not fall over-board, Aoba-chan!" Naruto called cheerfully, laughing.

"You brat!" Aoba sighed, annoyed.

Yamato smiled. Of course, he wouldn't change this peace right now for the world.

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**Go easy on me, it's been a while since I've written something!**

**Ok, I WAS totally HOOKED on KHR. BUT AMANO ENDED IT! ;n;**

**I just joined the Supernatural fandom, too. ;n;**

**Video/s of the day/week/months: Cry Plays Corpse Party, Avenged Sevenfold, RT Let's Play Halo 4, Literal Iron Man 3 Trailer, Everything is Castiel and Nothing Hurts, TFS Hellsing Abridged Episode 3, PewDiePie plays Lucius, Rebecca Sugar, Adventure Time, FaceBox Michael Jones, CRCanada**


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